Driverless Cars: A Solution to Global Warming? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Global warming is one of the topical issues involving many countries. It threatens national and international security as well as basic needs. Its effects include high temperatures and rising seas that lead to severe flooding or prolonged droughts. The international community is trying to find solutions to climate change, and one alternative is driverless cars (Hermann 22). The vehicles have promised to revolutionize the transportation sector. However, some scholars argue that driverless cars will not solve the problem; instead, they contribute to global warming. Driverless support environmental preservation because they reduce the emission of gases into the atmosphere, and they reduce energy consumption.

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Environmental Benefits of Driverless Cars

Driverless cars contribute to ecological preservation since they reduce the emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Most of the autonomous vehicles on the roads today are electric. Environmental experts argue that the introduction of driverless vehicles in the streets alongside smart public transport policy could significantly contribute to reducing emissions. Manufacturers of driverless cars say that the vehicles drive efficiently than human-driven cars (Salkever & Wadhwa 43). For example, there is no over speeding or harsh braking since they work move under programmed instructions. Cars consume most energy when braking or over speeding, but this will be a thing of the past after introducing driverless vehicles on the roads. The cars have a systematic driving style resulting in efficient operations. In the process, they save use and reduce emissions, which in turn, contribute to protecting the environment. Driverless cars could reduce radiation by 80% by 5050, and this could be a milestone towards managing climate change. Similarly, they could control time effectively while on the road compared to human-drivers cars (Maurer, Derdes, & Lenz 32). People must learn to abide by the traffic laws and time; thus, avoid unnecessary movements that would increase the emission of gases. The underlying factor is that autonomous cars could reduce emission of gases since they are electrical protecting the environment.

Another contribution is that autonomous cars could reduce the emission of gases by using one vehicle to make deliveries to different destinations. For example, a family can have one car and use it to reach different places instead of each member using a different vehicle. One car can fit the needs of more than three family members (Sumantra, Fine & Gonsalvez 54). The strategy reduces the number of vehicles on the roads, and unnecessary speeding leading to efficiency in energy use, and significantly reducing emissions. Moreover, the weight of the cars will drop because of the development of lighter batteries, which contributes to proficiency in energy use. Therefore, they would contribute to saving the environment by reducing the number of vehicles on the roads.

Besides reducing emissions, driverless cars reduce energy consumption significantly. They reduce energy consumption by 90%. The transportation sector contributes considerably to the emission of greenhouse gases. Automating the vehicles will increase efficiency in energy use by reducing vehicles on the roads and using renewable sources of energy contributing to environmental preservation. Households would reduce energy consumption by buying fewer cars since one vehicle can take them to different places (Watzenig & Horn 63). In the process of reducing the number of cars in the streets, congestion will decline. Traffic congestion would increase emissions because cars will spend more time in the streets compared to when there are few cars (Salkever & Wadhwa 23). Similarly, energy consumption is high when there is no congestion on the roads since there is no unnecessary breaking. Therefore, autonomous cars contribute to environmental sustainability as a result of efficiency in energy use.

Another overlooked benefit that makes autonomous cars contributors to environmental preservation is the ability to program them to take the most efficient routes. The owners can program them to identify and use the shortest paths possible with no traffic, saving energy. The technology installed in these cars can choose the best paths to follow (West 34). However, there should be policies that encourage people to share vehicles to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads. For example, there should be laws to penalize unoccupied automatic vehicles. They can also reward individuals who share cars. In this regard, it is possible to ensure efficiency in energy consumption as well as the number of vehicles on the roads.

Moreover, autonomous cars contribute to environmental sustainability since they interact with each well-improving safety on the roads besides maximizing energy use. Interacting vehicles could reduce energy consumptions since there is low air resistance. Different factors determine energy use in the streets. Among these factors include design and resistance to air (West 36). More air resistance means that a vehicle will use more energy to move, and this increases environmental pollution. Since the cars are programmed, they can follow each other intimately without causing an accident, but increased energy efficiency. The technology was developed aiming to increase energy efficiency; thus, they help to sustain the environment through sustainable energy use.

Finally, autonomous cars are essential in this era of global warming since they are designed in a way that they would automatically to save-energy mode to reduce energy usage. It is the best feature fitted in the cars that make them different from the human-driven cars. However, the vehicles must be light so that they reduce energy use. Manufacturers have made sure that these cars are lighter than normal automobiles by eliminating safety items and features which are not needed (Neckermann 22). Therefore, these cars accelerate effectively based on their weight and the program fitted. Finally, autonomous cars are replaced within four years meaning that they do not last too long that can increase emissions. Therefore, autonomous cars are the most efficient in solving the issue of global warming and environmental pollution.

On the other hand, driverless cars would lead to environmental issues since people will be encouraged to travel more miles since travelling is easy. It encourages people to move easy, encouraging people travelling more distances when free instead of staying at their homes. For example, communities might live far from where they work since technology has made travelling easy. In this era of technology, they would stay far from their places of work since they can do something in the cars while it drives itself. The downside of this is that it may increase the number of vehicles on the roads and miles vehicles travel increasing emissions (Anderson, Nidhi & Stanley 20). Driving long distances increases energy and gas use which are detrimental in environmental pollution. Therefore, vehicle owners require education so that they engage in best practices to avoid behaviors that would lead to environmental pollution because transportation has been made easy.

Moreover, driverless cars are fitted with features that would increase the weight and energy consumption of the vehicles. Features like aerodynamic drag and demand for electricity, especially from the installation of sensors would be significant contributors to energy consumption (Sperling 13). All sensors fitted in these cars use electricity and some argue that this would increase energy consumption. Manufacturers have to take this into account and ensure these features do not increase energy consumption. Also, there should be technology development to help in using alternative energy sources, making cars efficient.

Conclusion

Driverless cars help to reduce environmental pollution by limiting emissions and maximizing energy consumption. The introduction of driverless cars is expected to change the transport sector significantly. Additionally, it will reshape all other industries depending on automobile including manufacturing, taxis, and tracking. Driverless cars could be the solution to climate change since it reduces energy use by using technology to minimize features that contribute to increased energy consumption. Moreover, they reduce emissions since they are electric and encourage people to share cars since one car can take people to more than three destinations. However, they can also contribute to increased energy consumption since it encourages people to live far away from their places of work since transportation has been made easy. Therefore, governments should come up with policies, encouraging people to behave ethically so that the vehicles can be detrimental in sustaining the environment.

Works Cited

Anderson, James. Nidhi, Kalra & Stanley, Karlyn. Autonomous vehicle technology: A guide for policymakers. Calif: RAND Corporation. 2014.

Hermann, Andrew. Brenner, Walter & Stadler, Rupert. Autonomous driving: How the driverless revolutionwill change the world. New York: Emerald Publishing Limited. 2018.

Maurer, Markus. Derdes, Christian & Lenz, Barbara. Autonomous driving: technical, legal and social aspects. Oxford: Springer Open. 2016.

Neckermann, Lukas. The mobility revolution. London: Sage. 2018.

Salkever, Alex & Wadhwa, Vivek. The driver in the driverless car: How our technology choices will create the future. New York: BK Publishers. 2018.

Sperling, Daniel. Three revolutions: steering automated, shared, and electric vehicles to a better future. London: Island Press. 2018.

Sumantra, Venkat. Fine, Charles & Gonsalvez, David. Faster, smarter, greener: The future of the car and urban mobility. Cambridge: The MIT Press. 2014.

Watzenig, Daniel & Horn, Martin. Automated driving: safer and more efficient future driving. London: Springer. 2016.

West, Darrell. Going mobile: How wireless technology is reshaping our lives. Washington: Brookings Institute Press. 2014.